The present application relates generally to the field of the analysis and management of information. More specifically, exemplary embodiments relate to systems and methods for gathering, analyzing and reporting information in a business context. More specifically, certain exemplary embodiments relate to systems and methods for presenting business metrics to system users in a reliable and efficient manner.
There have been developed over the past several decades software and hardware based systems for monitoring and administering business processes. These processes can include all aspects of a business, including inventory and supply chain management, business financing, personnel management, etc. These systems are sometimes called enterprise resource planning systems. Information generated and stored by enterprise resource planning systems can be extremely useful as “business intelligence”. It has been a task of business systems designers to help the right information be provided to the right people at the right time.
A business system may provide different metrics to a system user, which may also be called “aggregate data”. One example of such a metric involves the moving average price of products used by a business. If the moving average price of a business raw material exceeds a certain price, for example, it may be indicative of supply problems. The moving average price is also used for inventory revaluation. There is thus a need to develop systems and methods for evaluating the moving average price and other business metrics in a reliable and efficient fashion. There is further a need to recognize exceptional deviations from the standard business metrics and to quickly identify the underlying data that led to the deviation condition.